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DESIGN TRIUMPHS OVER GENDER AND RACE IN DREAM COURSE OFFERED BY OU COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE

NORMAN – Design knows no boundaries, no race or gender. This is the theme for the Dream Course Lecture Series being offered this fall by the University of Oklahoma College of Architecture.

Beginning this fall, the divisions of Interior Design and Architecture are offering a dream course titled “Women, Minorities and Design.”

Abimbola Asojo, associate professor of interior design, and Glenn Josey, instructor in the division of architecture, are hosting a series of public lectures as part of the dream course. The dream course aims to incorporate such issues as the advocacy of women and diversity into the design education and built environment.

Several presentations will be offered at no cost to the public. All will be presented in room 116 of “Arc on Main” at 555 W. Main St. The series will kick off on at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, with a panel discussion on “The Missing Design History” featuring well-known scholars and professionals from the field of architecture, interior design and planning.

Scheduled panelists are:  

  • Nnamdi Elleh, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Cincinnati and the author of three books, including African Architecture: Evolution and Transformation, the first definitive study of African architecture from antiquity to the present
  • VibhavariJani,associate professor of interior design at Louisiana Tech University, whoseresearch interests include the contribution of non-Western cultures in the field of architecture and design, interior design education, sustainability and green design, and the influence of new technology and how it impacts the interior design curricula
  • Aly Karam,associate professor in the planning program in the School of Architecture and Planning at University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, who lectures in the areas of housing, demography, research methods and planning techniques. 

 

 “This panel discussion is a great opportunity for anyone interested in diversity, multicultural issues and underrepresented groups in design,” said Josey.

‘The panel has been chosen to truly reflect the topic and issues on hand,” added Asojo, who is also the director of division of interior design at the College of Architecture.

Other panels are planned for Oct. 21 and Nov. 11.

For more information, please contact Asojo at aasojo@ou.edu or (405) 325-6409, or Josey at gjosey95@ou.edu or (405) 325-7101. For accommodations on the basis of disability, please call (405) 325-2444 or e-mail coa-comunications@ou.edu.